Damien did not return that night, and Delphine didn’t know why. She really wanted to speak to him that night, unsure of what, but she knew when she saw him, the words would form themselves. It was really hard for her to sleep that night. She would stare at the ceiling for hours, and then into a short sleep that would last for less than an hour, then back to staring at the ceiling again. Delphine had spent the whole time awake thinking, not of the game, but her future. She knew the other pack was already seeing her as a Luna, but she felt like a failure. She couldn’t be the Luna of her pack like this; she felt she would be the weakest known. She also wasn’t sure if Damien was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, or who he would want to spend the rest of his life with. Delphine went to bed with her mind already made up. Tomorrow she would say her goodbyes and leave.
“I want to leave,” was the first thing she said to Damien once he walked into the room. “I can’t stay here anymore. I believe I’ve stayed enough.” Her bag was already on the bed, packed, and she was already dressed to set out. She sat by the window, paying more interest to the trees outside than to Damien’s surprised face.
He stilled for a moment, frowning as he wondered if he had heard right. “What?” He just had to ask again. “What are you saying?”
“I said I am leaving. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be gone. You don’t have to worry about me. I have some money. I’ll take care of myself.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Delphine,” he scoffed. “You are back with the talks again?”
“Do I look like I am playing games with you?” She sounded a bit offended by that, but Damien didn’t take notice.
“Yes. Why do you want to leave so suddenly?” He walked over to the bed to feel the weight of her bag. “Did something happen to trigger you? Was it the race?”
“Yes, the race, the people, everything. Where were you last night?” She finally looked at him. He was wearing different clothes, not the one he had on the last she saw him, so she suspected he must have had spare clothes with him when he left, but there was still dirt and mud on his skin, telling he hadn’t had a bath yet. His hair was also wild, pointing in all directions. If it wasn’t because she was trying to be serious, she would have laughed at him.